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Bear Wood Products is a manufacturer of custom wooden martial art weapons, in business for over 12 years. We make products for Japanese martial arts styles such as Aikido, Aikijujutsu, Kenjutsu, Bujinkan, Iaido and Kendo. We specialize in domestic and exotic hardwoods including Hickory, Lignum Vitae, Cocobolo, Jatoba and Purple Heart. Our products include bokken, Aiki-jo, hanbo, escrima, tanto and bo. Each weapon is hand crafted for exceptional balance, feel and energy. Also each training weapon undergoes a special pressurized resin treatment to bind wood fibers, producing a very strong and solid training weapon.

All of our weapons are hand crafted by a master woodworker and martial artist, Mr. Shannon Reitan. He has been specializing in wooden weapons for over 15 years. As a practicing martial artist and Sensei for over 24 years, he has experience with the different styles and woods to craft the best wooden weapon for you and your martial art needs.

We strive to craft exceptional training weapons with both functional and esthetic appeal. We look forward to making you a training weapon that you will enjoy for years to come.

Jatoba - very hard and very heavy with a brownish-gold color. It is heavier than purple heart and contact hickory. It is considered one of the toughest woods available. A great choice for the harder contact styles.

The customer service from this company was suberb, the jo is beautiful, and I couldn\'t be happier. The selection of woods to choose from outstanding, and the delivery was extremely fast! I highly recommend this company.

------------------------------ Faeth

ian

Registered: October 2000Location: Northern IrelandPosts: 1654

Review Date:

Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: $75.00
| Rating: 2

Pros:

look nice

Cons:

not for heavy contact, too expensive for the craftsmanship

Although sometimes you can get a good one, the care taken in choosing the grain to make it run the length is not adequate. In addition the grain is often quite thick, so despite being made of hickory, large lumps can be taken off these weapons by much cheaper white oak weapons.

If you do lots of heavy contact weapon practise (like Saito\'s no.2 kumitachi!) I would definately not recommend these. Estimated shelf-life with full contact = 6 months.